Catalyst
by angie
Summary: i had to get this bit of insanity out of my system


CATALYST  
  
Note: This is what resulted from one too many exams and my sleep deprived mind. I wanted to do more with it but fazed out, so if anyone want to extrapolate, please do!  
  
"Captain, long range sensors are picking up an automated distress call."  
  
"Lets hear it Harry"  
  
62 by 25, grid 40...request urgent help  
  
'Tom, adjust course, warp 8"  
  
"Aye Captain"  
  
"Harry keep scanning for other ships"  
  
"We're in visual range"  
  
"Onscreen"  
  
A sleek purple cruiser for two with red stripes appeared to be dead in the water.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Structural integrity intact, one faint humanoid life-form, engines and weapons offline"  
  
"Beam the pilot to Sickbay and tow the flyer to Shuttle Bay 2"  
  
"Aye Captain"  
  
"Whoa she's a beaut!" remarked Tom.  
  
"I'm sure that you'll get a tour Mr. Paris"  
  
"I hope so Captain"  
  
Janeway left for Sickbay after passing the Bridge to Tuvok with a weary look. The 'lift' stopped at Deck 3 admitting Chakotay.  
  
"Morning Captain"  
  
"Commander, join me in Sickbay"  
  
"Kathryn, are you ok?"  
  
"What?...oh yeah, we just picked up a new passenger. I can't pinpoint what's bothering me but I feel weird about this."  
  
"Hmm...now you have a puzzle to solve Captain" trying to stop a grin.  
  
"You're incorrigible Chakotay" with a small smile.  
  
"Isn't that why you keep me on board Captain?"  
  
She elbowed him in the midsection.  
  
"Oww!"  
  
"You're getting soft Commander"  
  
"How would you know?"  
  
"Don't start" she retorted with a saucy grin.  
  
"Captain, Commander...how nice to see you"  
  
"Stow it Doctor. How's our guest?"  
  
Trying to look hurt he replied "healthy as far as I can tell. She appears to be sleeping or rather hibernating."  
  
"Wake her" said Chakotay.  
  
"Commander I don't think..."  
  
"Doctor, just do it" ordered Janeway.  
  
The Doctor picked up a hypospray mumbling to himself about deactivating his program since everyone else pretend to know what's best for patients.  
  
Their visitor blinked a few times and jerked upright.  
  
"Easy...I'm Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. This is Commander Chakotay. We picked up your distress call"  
  
"Lili Regina of the Imperial Zale-Empire"  
  
Lili stepped off the Biobed and hugged Janeway, Chakotay and thanked the Doctor for reviving her. She was dressed in a red and orange flowing gown. Her black eyes shone with curiosity as she perused the Sickbay.  
  
"Very nice Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay...so where are you going?"  
  
Janeway " The Alpha Quadrant"  
  
Lili "Yes?" at Janeway's raised eyebrows she continued "this is the Alpha Quadrant or Sector to those of us who live here. So that would make you strangers...very lost strangers"  
  
"That we are" confirmed Chakotay.  
  
"May I travel with you?"  
  
"We're 60000 light years from our home, if you change your mind we won't be able to bring you back here" answered Janeway.  
  
"No problem, I hope that I don't see this place again. Besides I know the area for another 5000 light years or so and could tell you where to get what."  
  
"Ok welcome aboard, Commander assign Lili quarters and find out her skills"  
  
"Aye Captain...Lili"  
  
"May I come visit you Doctor?"  
  
"Absolutely...we can compare noted on our species"  
  
With a seeming familiarity Lili linked her arm with Chakotay's and started firing questions at him.  
  
Janeway allowed a small smile and gave the Doctor a wry look.  
  
"Maybe you could assign her to Sickbay Captain"  
  
"We'll see Doctor"  
  
*****  
  
Lili proved to be very knowledgeable in all aspects of Starship Operations and seemed to be a thorn in Seven of Nine's side. She got on famously with the 'terrible three' of course. Playing practical jokes led to Janeway reprimanding all guilty parties namely Tom, Harry, B'Elanna and Lili.  
  
Janeway was in her Ready Room trying to lessen the pile of PADDs when the door chimed.  
  
"Come in"  
  
"Captain, shift's over"  
  
"Chakotay is it just me? Or have the 'fearsome foursome' been especially good lately?"  
  
Laughing he replied "worried that the kids are planning to wreak havoc?'  
  
"Yeah, something like that" stretching "I'd better call it a day before my mother hen of a first officer comes to send me home"  
  
"Yes, I hear the guy's insufferable. Dinner?"  
  
"If you're buying Chakotay, I'm yours"  
  
he opened his mouth to reply but Janeway continued "and don't even think of saying it"  
  
"What?" asked Chakotay, a picture of innocence complete with dimples.  
  
"I'll keel haul you yet Commander"  
  
They passed the Bridge to Harry and proceeded to dinner.  
  
Lili was intrigued by the stories of their Delta Quadrant experiences and especially interested in all the gossip. She could wheedle information out of the most tight-lipped crewman.  
  
"Lili to captain Janeway"  
  
"Janeway here"  
  
"Captain are you busy at 1300 hours?"  
  
"Not especially, do you need something?"  
  
"I would like to invite you to lunch Captain"  
  
"Ok...I'll meet you in the Messhall"  
  
"Thank you Captain, Lili out"  
  
Musing the audacity of the girl she marveled at the fact that none of the Junior ever called her with an invitation, and neither had the Senior staff except Chakotay.  
  
******  
  
"I've never had food quite like Neelix's" observed Lili  
  
"Our Mr. Neelix is unique alright" replied Janeway  
  
"How do you people stand to eat Leola root?"  
  
"Well at times its either Leola root or starvation literally. So we have made our peace with it. This journey has been difficult"  
  
"I need to ask you..." ventured Lili  
  
Bridge to Captain Janeway  
  
"Janeway here"  
  
Captain, please report to the Bridge  
  
"On my way, Janeway out...sorry Lili, lets do this again sometime"  
  
A few weeks passed by with no appreciable disturbances without or within Voyager  
  
*****  
  
Janeway's quarters 2340 hours  
  
Beep  
  
"Come in"  
  
"Goodnight Captain, I need to discuss something with you"  
  
Janeway sensed her hesitation and invited Lili to join her on the couch.  
  
"Would you like something to drink?"  
  
"No thanks"  
  
"Well what's on your mind?"  
  
"I would like to have a relationship with someone n this ship and needed to talk to you about it"  
  
The Captain watched in amusement as Lili tried to sit still, eyes darting everywhere except at Janeway.  
  
"Lili that's wonderful! You don't need my permission but I'm here if you need to talk about anything."  
  
Looking directly at Janeway, Lili replied very quietly "yes I do"  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
"I do need your permission for this relationship Captain"  
  
"Who exactly are we talking about?"  
  
"You Captain"  
  
Shock gave way to embarrassment as Janeway changed shades. Lili was extremely fascinated by the Captain's reactions.  
  
"Lili I'm flattered, I think but I'm not homosexual. Even if I were, I couldn't have a relationship with a crewmember"  
  
"I'm not either Captain but I've never felt this way about anyone before...it's confusing and very distracting, I spend a lot of time fantasizing about you and would sooner get it over with"  
  
"I don't know what to say...I mean, hell this is really weird! Did you think I liked women?"  
  
"I didn't take your feelings into consideration but maybe the fact that you're not involved with any male crewmember contributed to my fantasies."  
  
Lili paced all thru her little speech unconsciously mimicking Janeway's mannerisms. Janeway's mind was racing at warp 6 wondering if the crew saw her as gay of frigid. She was brought out of her reverie when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Captain?..have you heard what I said?"  
  
"Sorry Lili, I was light years away"  
  
"I said that I would still like to explore a relationship with you...I know, you are not gay" cutting off Janeway's response, "my people are not very uptight about sex. It's not that we're promiscuous or anything like that. It's just a waste of time to stifle our desires"  
  
"We have conventions that go with sex in my culture. Personally, I need to be in love with my perspective partner and then there's Protocol."  
  
"I was born into Protocol Captain and I think it's mostly bruke's (equiv.of a dog ;-)crap. So are you in love with anyone?"  
  
"That's irrelevant. I'm, not in love with you."  
  
"Do me a favour Captain?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kiss me"  
  
"No...I think you had better leave Lili and think about what I said"  
  
"Ok"  
  
As Janeway stood to escort her to the door, Lili stepped in front of the Captain and kissed her.  
  
"Goodnight Kathryn"  
  
A stunned Kathryn Janeway stared at the closed door for a ling time.  
  
In the corridor, Lili contacted her partner in crime citing 'mission accomplished.'  
  
Captain Janeway didn't sleep well that night (more so than normal). Some unlucky crewmen horsing around in the corridor felt the brunt of her bad mood at 0650 hours. Neelix took one look at Janeway as she stepped into the Messhall and withheld his usual inappropriate compliments about her looks. He quickly prepared her coffee and wordlessly handed it to her. With a nod, she headed for the Command Centre where the grapevine had already alerted them that she was on the warpath. The Bridge crew was in true 'shift mode' and everything was precisely executed. This went on for days until the Captain simmered down enough to call off the reign of terror.  
  
"Commander, join me in the Ready Room"  
  
"Aye Captain"  
  
"Tuvok, you have the Bridge"  
  
Even Tuvok didn't comment on the collective sigh of the Alpha shift.  
  
"Chakotay, what do you think of me?"  
  
"In what respect?" replied the worried first officer.  
  
"Sexually"  
  
"Kathryn?" to himself, he thought 'ok Chak..be very careful with that one.'  
  
Facing the viewport with a slight pout, she continued "do you think I'm homosexual or frigid?"  
  
"No...Kathryn where's all this coming from?"  
  
"I was given a surprising insight about what some people may be thinking of me"  
  
"Kathryn, to be honest, at one point in this DQ sojourn I thought so"  
  
She jerked around very quickly with a horrified expression.  
  
"Now hear me out Kathryn...as I got to know you better, that idea was discarded and I hoped to pursue you romantically but anytime we got anywhere near the topic, you recite everyone of Starfleet's damned parameters. Do you know how much I hate the word 'Ptotocol?'"  
  
In-spite of the situation, Janeway became amused at her first officer's ranting and decided to let him rave thinking 'this is taking an interesting turn, I thought we were talking about me.'  
  
"Gods Kathryn, sometimes I want to kill you with my bare hands and other times I want to throw you against the nearest bulkhead and screw your brains out. But the Brig is not that comfortable to spend the rest of my life there. So I try to live by your rules and that's only because I love you "  
  
"You what? Chakotay you said..."  
  
"I love you Kathryn...you know that"  
  
"I don't read minds Chakotay. I suppose I thought that you appreciated and liked me as a person and Captain but..." she was fighting the urge to laugh out loud at his dazed look of utter disbelief.  
  
"Shut up Kathryn" he was now in her personal space, "appreciated??liked??...woman I love you with all my being"  
  
"That wasn't so hard to say...was it Commander?"  
  
Groaning, he embraced her tightly then planted kisses all over her face before capturing her mouth.  
  
"Seriously Kathryn...you knew I loved you all along, right?"  
  
"I was never sure"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You never told me! And lets not talk about your sordid love life"  
  
"You Starfleet types! Always expecting perfection"  
  
"Don't blame Starfleet. This is a woman's thing, I have my pride Chakotay and didn't want to presume anything"  
  
"Well you can presume all you want because I love you. I have to ask though, do you love me?"  
  
"I think so"  
  
"THINK"  
  
"Well it only took you 5 years to tell me, at least give me a few seconds to think about it"  
  
"I have very persuasive methods Captain. The Maquis were well known for information retrieval"  
  
"Ok, my Angry Warrior..yes"  
  
They both returned to the Bridge with goofy smiles plastered on their faces.  
  
A few weeks later, Kathryn and Chakotay were in bed enjoying a well- deserved day off.  
  
"Kathryn, where did you get the idea that the crew may think you're gay?"  
  
"Our resident princess who gave up a kingdom for exploration because she thinks 'protocol' is a virtual waste of time"  
  
"Remind me to thank her and please don't use that dirty word in bed, any other you may use"  
  
"You can't order me. I'm still the Captain"  
  
"Don't I know it"  
  
Smacking him on the arm, "bring me a coffee and I'll forgive you"  
  
"You're out of rations Kate"  
  
"What the hell does a girl have to do to get some coffee?"  
  
Whatever he whispered to her resulted in peals of laughter.  
  
The End  
  
A4oct1401  
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
  


End file.
